1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to air pumps, and more particularly to a built-in air pump that can be deployed for inflation and deflation of an inflatable product, such as an air mattress.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Inflatable products have become very popular. In particular, inflatable air mattresses have become a very useful item that has found use at homes, camping and other applications. These inflatable air mattresses are typically inflated and deflated by air pumps. Some of these mattresses have been provided with built-in air pumps that can be stored in a socket or space that is provided in the housing of the mattress, and then pulled out and deployed for use in inflating and deflating the mattress.
Many of the existing built-in air pumps suffer from a number of drawbacks. For example, the construction of these built-in air pumps can be complicated which leads to increased cost and reliability issues. In addition, many of the existing pump units have their vents exposed to the environment when the product is either inflated in use or deflated for storage (i.e., when the pump unit is not in use), so that the interior of the pump units can be contaminated by water or dirt.
Therefore, there remains a need for more effective built-in air pumps that can be used with inflatable products, such as mattresses, and which avoids the drawbacks of the present pump units.